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Google’s strategic bet on the internet of things is continuing – the $555 million in cash it has just shelled out for Dropcam follows its purchase earlier in the year of Nest Labs, through which it is making this latest acquisition. The sums on offer underline just how seriously Google is taking the internet of things, the idea that every device, from the home to the workplace and beyond, will eventually be connected online, feeding back data and accepting instructions remotely.

One man watching the Dropcam deal with particular interest is James West, the founder of a British company whose innovations are going head to head with those of the company Google has just bought – and in many ways beating the US firm at its own game.

West’s firm, Manything, operates in the same space as Dropcam, with an app that enables users to remotely monitor their homes by linking their desk computers or mobile devices to the cameras in the iPhones, iPads and iPods set up at home. The obvious application is in the home security market but there are plenty of other potential uses for this technology.

All the more so following the release this week of an updated version of Manything’s app, which provides a much greater degree of functionality. The app is now able to communicate with other devices in the home: so, for example, it can switch on the lights in the event that a linked camera picks up an unusual movement, or generate a report, as well as pictures, if a linked smoke alarm begins to ring.

“Things are moving rapidly in the internet of things sector as we continue to move into a connected world,” says West. “We’ve spent the last two years – and £1m – developing the best video monitoring app.”

West himself has an interesting background – he’s an entrepreneur rather than a technology specialist, which may bode well for Manything’s commercial development. He's best-known as the founder of the stock photography agency Alamy, where he still serves as chief executive, and which has stolen market share from more established players through an aggressive pricing policy

The company is likely to attract attention. With Google already in the sector, Apple is expected to make its entry in the autumn. As a potential acquisition target for such giants, Manything has plenty going for it.

Still, these are early days. In truth, the internet of things should really be described as the internet of some things – there’s a great deal of talk about what might be possible in the future, but not much in the way of a proven business model just yet. Not least because most devices aren’t connected.

Over time, however, companies such as Manything are likely to find themselves in demand if they can deliver substantial numbers of users as well as the theoretical promise of jam tomorrow from these technologies.

British companies get it. The current merger of blue chip retailers Carphone Warehouse and Dixons Retail, for example, is a deal almost entirely predicated on the idea that the internet of things is the most significant digital trend of the next five years. And the innovations of Manything, and other British players in this sector, could pave the way.